David Burns ended his recent opinion piece (Antifa the result of a troubling education system, Tuesday, Aug. 18) on Antifa, Oregon politicians and higher education by claiming our colleges and universities do not provide “a fair and balanced college education especially concerning the Founding Fathers and the origin of this wonderful nation.”

He goes on to say, “Our entire educational system needs to be investigated thoroughly and major changes need to be implemented quickly.”

Rigorous educational institutions teach students to think critically. Doing so often causes students to question inherited beliefs and prior teaching. It’s not that all faculty are liberal, they teach students to question assumptions.

Most of us were taught in grade school that Columbus discovered America in 1492. We now know Columbus stumbled upon a few islands, subsequently a continent inhabited by millions of indigenous people. They were not discovered. They knew where they were.

Columbus returned to Europe with a cargo of slaves. Many of the first inhabitants of this country died of diseases brought by European settlers, and were driven from their ancestral lands and forced by treaties (later broken) onto reservations. Africans were abducted and forced into slavery to become an unpaid exploited workforce for the European settlers.

Our educational system does need updating — so that it includes all the facts about the founding of this nation, not just the grade school myths most are taught. Many other social institutions are also in need of change. Unrest over the murder of George Floyd and other Blacks painfully reminds us how unjust our nation is unless you are a member of the privileged white majority.

Our Constitution starts out “We the People.” While “people” was first assumed to be white males, the Constitution has been amended 27 times and “people” now includes members of all ethnic groups and women. Society needs to ensure, as our Declaration of Independence states, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

In 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked, “What have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” He is attributed as replying, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

To keep this precious republic we need informed citizens willing to do the hard work of being informed by facts, engaging in respectful debate over issues, thinking critically and voting responsibly, all while treating each other with dignity and respect. A house divided cannot stand.

Ron Fonger

Pendleton